If not crosses or stars, what do atheists have as a symbol?

Religion News Service

Updated 5:04 pm, Thursday, September 27, 2012

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The evolve fish is a widely recognized symbol for atheists. That outline of a footed fish with the word evolve in the center first appeared in 1992, developed by two Colorado nontheists as a response to the proliferation of so-called Jesus fish on car bumpers and license plates. less

The evolve fish is a widely recognized symbol for atheists. That outline of a footed fish with the word evolve in the center first appeared in 1992, developed by two Colorado nontheists as a response to the ... more

Photo: Courtesy Photo

If not crosses or stars, what do atheists have as a symbol?

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Hester Prynne would be so proud.

The red letter "A" that Nathaniel Hawthorne's heroine was forced to wear as a badge of shame in "The Scarlet Letter" is now proudly chosen by atheists to wear on jewelry made from ceramic, silver, gold and wood.

Christians have their crosses and crucifixes, Jews their Stars of David, Hindus their oms and Buddhists their lotuses. Atheists ask, why shouldn't they and other nonbelievers have their own symbols as well?

"It is the most recognized symbol in our community right now," said Amy Roth, a Los Angeles atheist who makes ceramic "A" pendants for her "Surlyramics" jewelry line that she sells at atheist conventions and meetings, as well as online. "It's nice to have a small amulet of sorts that one can carry with them that represents who they are and makes them feel part of a larger rational community."

The scarlet A first appeared in 2007 as part of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science's "Out Campaign," aimed at getting atheists to be public about their beliefs - or lack thereof. It was designed by Josh Timonen, a multimedia designer, and was originally intended for a T-shirt.

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It wasn't long before enterprising artisans - most of them atheists - started reproducing the symbol on rings, necklaces, pendants and earrings. Many began selling their wares at atheist conventions and meetings and in online outlets.

Atheists are not the only nonbelievers with their own symbols. Humanists have a "happy humanist," a boxy kind of stick figure with arms raised high. Skeptics have adopted a variety of symbols to denote their rejection of superstition, including an atom, a DNA strand and a tree of life.

Rachelle Wirfs, a 42-year-old artist based in Federal Way, Wash., was frustrated by a lack of attractive jewelry to reflect her belief in humanism, so she made her own of burned and polished wood. In 2011, she began selling her pendants as ArtAfire on Etsy.com.

Many people point to the "evolve fish" as the first widely adopted atheist symbol. That outline of a footed fish with the word "evolve" in the center first appeared in 1992, developed by two Colorado nontheists as a response to the proliferation of so-called "Jesus fish" on car bumpers and license plates.

Now, their company, EvolveFish, employs six people and does $500,000 a year in sales, according to a recent Bloomberg Businessweek article on the "godless market." They expanded from car decals to include jewelry, and now offer other silver- and gold-toned fish-shaped emblems, including gefilte fish, Darwin fish and the flying spaghetti monster - a mythical creature sited by nontheists as their version of an undetectable, sky-dwelling being.